tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post5538261960237005086..comments2015-03-01T03:49:28.949-06:00Comments on Beth Loves Bollywood: Babli at the bat: Dil Bole HadippaBeth Watkinsnoreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-57838089441593325042011-02-07T18:12:05.323-06:002011-02-07T18:12:05.323-06:00WOW I&#39;m so behind on replying to comments! Sor...WOW I&#39;m so behind on replying to comments! Sorry everyone! I&#39;m pressed for time at the moment but hope to come back to this soon.<br /><br />maxqnz - First, it&#39;s so nice to see you here - I know your work well from Filmi Geek :)<br /><br />Thank you! I wanted to like this too. I re-watched part of it with Filmi Geek awhile ago and she loooooooved it, and we had some interesting discussions about what role one&#39;s mood plays in the experience of a film. She was very much ready and willing to be swept away. She also had avoided learning ANYTHING about this film in advance of seeing it and didn&#39;t know about Veera&#39;s big plan and really enjoyed that surprise. <br /><br />Anyway. As you say, even when one WANTS to like something, it can still be an uphill battle in the face of things like poor writing :) Rohan&#39;s dad does seem...I was going to say &quot;one-dimensional&quot; but I&#39;m not sure that quite captures it. His righteousness is so inexplicable. Hmph.Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05540154833326987567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-91337685624465339122011-02-06T04:59:47.985-06:002011-02-06T04:59:47.985-06:00Great review, Beth! I *really* wanted to like this...Great review, Beth! I *really* wanted to like this film, and overall I probably let it off easier than you do.<br />The nauseating YRF brand of patriotism I could ignore (except for that pooja scene), because I expect it. What stuck in my craw was the AWFUL character of Rohan&#39;s Dad. Not only was he megalomaniacal as you said, but he was apparently totally without sin. To see him stay resolute in believing that all his despicable behaviour was righteous because it was all about &quot;Saare Jahan Se Achcha,&quot; was just too much. The fact that the viewer was supposed to accept that point of view was made plain by the way first son then wife capitulated completely to his selfish, deceitful manipulative actions, ackowledging the was right and that they had obviously been corrupted by the decadent West. It really was disappointing, because the film had a lot going for it.maxqnzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09042500344000182850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-247509601560372452010-03-05T11:51:03.369-06:002010-03-05T11:51:03.369-06:00Ugh, I had forgotten about Rani being billed after...Ugh, I had forgotten about Rani being billed after Shahid. That was so, so LAME. He was still pulling dupattas over Aishwarya in Taal while she was dueting with SRK! Grrr. And you know I love me some Shahid.<br /><br />The take-down scene (between coach &amp; Veer) I actually thought was well done. She *was* unduly impressed with herself; just because she could beat a bunch of people who played in their spare time didn&#39;t mean she was a) a good team player or b) as far better than everybody else as she thought. And it did a little to show that Coach guy was actually a good team runner. The rest of it was really lacking, though. :-/ajnabihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296593338690811213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-73988602529499809862009-12-05T20:57:08.706-06:002009-12-05T20:57:08.706-06:00Beth, a very eloquent and thoughtful breakdown of ...Beth, a very eloquent and thoughtful breakdown of what was problematic in DBH. Like FilmiGirl I enjoyed the gender-bending, but didn&#39;t think very deeply about the rest of it--I&#39;m glad you took the trouble.<br /><br />BTW, I have a pet theory that the later Anjali/Rahul basketball scene in KKHH was a critique of forcing women into hobbling traditional roles (symbolized by the basketball-inappropriate sari)--or is that just wishful thinking?Pessimisissimohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04223566131580795337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-35799046152478489792009-12-04T08:03:18.666-06:002009-12-04T08:03:18.666-06:00@TadyLovesDaniel: The song is Didi Tera Devar Deew...@TadyLovesDaniel: The song is Didi Tera Devar Deewaana from Hum Apke Hain Kaun.<br /><br />I LOVE THE SAREE SCIENCE!! so true. Have you seen the song with all the stars in Om Shanti Om (forgot the name)? I really really want someone to analyze what the thinking behind putting certain actresses in sarees and some in dresses, I know it wasn&#39;t a coincidence.ghazalintokyohttp://ghazalintokyo.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-69955550941250270872009-12-03T12:16:54.505-06:002009-12-03T12:16:54.505-06:00I think part of the problem is simply that it pick...I think part of the problem is simply that it picks YRF parts off the shelf and assembles it without really adding anything significant. It never really feels energetic and alive. I watched this back-to-back with <i>Wanted</i> -- guess which one stayed in memory? :-)<br /><br />~ramsucelluloidranthttp://celluloidrant.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-43492737399780051122009-12-01T17:00:13.715-06:002009-12-01T17:00:13.715-06:00I still havent seen this one - each successive rev...I still havent seen this one - each successive review pushes it further down on my to-watch list.<br /><br />Cant believe Rani was billed <i>after</i> Shahid! I thought the Bollywood convention was &#39;senior star&#39; first - Madhubala was billed over Shammi Kapoor, Nanda over Shashi and Meena Kumari over Dharmendra. HOW could YRF do that?!!<br /><br />Kudos for recognising the importance of &quot;the saree-point&quot; in a plot. Saree research is a much neglected area of filmi-research. I cant offhand recall heroines that went from western-slutty to sarees, but there are plenty of <i>tawaifs</i> who went from nautch-girl gear to sarees.bollyviewerhttp://bollyviewer-oldisgold.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-68318714540879301142009-12-01T12:59:30.077-06:002009-12-01T12:59:30.077-06:00Oh no!! I&#39;m so sad you didn&#39;t enjoy this! ...Oh no!! I&#39;m so sad you didn&#39;t enjoy this! :(<br /><br />I can totally see the points you were making but for me, that stuff took a backseat to watching Veera (and Veer) do stuff and keeping my eyes peeled for deliciously slashy subtext (thank you, yummy Rani/Rakhi song.)<br /><br />And the cultural jingoism was extremely awkward when I saw this because I was in a theatre FULL of NRIs and they all LAUGHED at the lines making fun of NRIs! I was baffled!<br /><br />Finally - girl who goes from slutty to getting her man? Saira Banu in <b>Purab aur Paschim</b>. She doesn&#39;t don a sari until the very last scene.Filmi Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16182245444783020664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-4060946655864790522009-12-01T12:38:42.570-06:002009-12-01T12:38:42.570-06:00If Tabu was there, I didn&#39;t see her. (Or maybe...If Tabu was there, I didn&#39;t see her. (Or maybe I see her in every other woman, and might&#39;ve fooled myself for once, LOL.) Didn&#39;t like this movie at all, and I am a Rani fan, *and* a cricket fan. :( It&#39;s so all over the place...will be interesting to see where Rani goes from here. <br /><br />I disagree with defining/identifying modernity by nature and extent of dress (talk about generalizations!), so I&#39;m with you on being bugged by the &#39;saari point&#39;, assuming I interpret it correctly. <br /><br />Do transformations (of state of dress) in dreams count? Those probably happen a lot in both directions. Going back to your question, one recent case I can think of is Rani in Laga Chunri Mein Daag, in which it&#39;s a lot more serious than just about the dress, of course. Oh, well...theBollywoodFanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11296407098387050782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-78355787349774393602009-12-01T10:28:59.455-06:002009-12-01T10:28:59.455-06:00I have this but haven&#39;t watched it yet (save f...I have this but haven&#39;t watched it yet (save for 15 minutes before company came and interrupted). Interesting points (including the popular sari point theory. I imagine that it has got to be the filmmaker&#39;s attempt at trying to instill cultural sense into these new modern ladies? Anyway, I will eventually get around to watching it if even for Rani.shellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08758282383525747870noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-62348287773158946562009-12-01T07:11:28.792-06:002009-12-01T07:11:28.792-06:00Things started slipping for me as soon as they bil...<i>Things started slipping for me as soon as they billed Shahid over Rani...</i><br /><br />That&#39;s how I felt about the opening credits for <i>Chandni</i>. Sridevi, the star of the movie and the title character, was third billed after Rishi Kapoor and Vinod Khanna. I managed to like the movie in spite of that mishap, but still, Sridevi&#39;s name should&#39;ve appeared first. <br /><br />Sorry for the off-topicness, but I assume the current banner is Aishwarya and Hrithik from <i>Dhoom 2</i>? They both look suprisingly hot enough to make me wonder if the movie is worth watching even once.lapetitedivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039596985868278574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-62495660490815827022009-12-01T04:58:45.305-06:002009-12-01T04:58:45.305-06:00awww the science of sari point turned me off the f...awww the science of sari point turned me off the film for a while when i was watching the &#39;ISHQ HI RAB&#39; song and i was rolling my eyes to the back of my head! UGHH but i remembered this was a RANI film and just enjoyed it for and the mini comeback from poonam! Shahid was soo creepy in his smiling sometimes when he looks at rani in the DISCO WALE KISKo song!Rumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10104185865100510017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-7908457057166466752009-12-01T03:24:54.862-06:002009-12-01T03:24:54.862-06:00Agreed, the romance is good and silly and Rani shi...Agreed, the romance is good and silly and Rani shines. But there&#39;s so much mediocre to bring it down from being a truly memorable fun little fluff piece. I couldn&#39;t even bother to analyze why the &quot;standard YRF fare&quot; stuff didn&#39;t work here as it does in some movies, so I appreciate you breaking it down on my behalf.veracioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14437521137603205617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-41232582595614774962009-12-01T00:29:18.627-06:002009-12-01T00:29:18.627-06:00I totally agree the Shahid/Rani romance and the mu...I totally agree the Shahid/Rani romance and the music where the only good thing about the film...and the message of &quot;girl power&quot;..i guess...i just wish they would have done a better job at portraying it better, I was wondering if u knew the song or film that Rohan played homage to when he was apologizing to Veera on stage, remember when he hit her with the sling shot flower on her back...I really liked the song...I just don&#39;t know what film it&#39;s from...TadyLovesDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388059053264953305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-77935907871251706262009-11-30T23:36:20.165-06:002009-11-30T23:36:20.165-06:00Amen.
The Rahul/Anjali basketball moment still st...Amen.<br /><br />The Rahul/Anjali basketball moment still stings-- it ruined that otherwise sweet film for me (that and my old friend Johnny Lever, argh). This at least avoids such a blatant moment-- but... the sari point. Yeah. By the way I LOVE the &quot;I am wearing contact lenses so you cannot possibly recognize me&quot; thing, also delightfully present in &quot;Baazigar.&quot; <br /><br />Watch &quot;Karan Arjun&quot; for a serious Sari Point moment. But drink first. Oh, drink first.Elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04888019230555832929noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-74049875061301917222009-11-30T21:02:06.211-06:002009-11-30T21:02:06.211-06:00The science of &quot;the sari point&quot;
Hee, I...<i>The science of &quot;the sari point&quot; </i><br /><br />Hee, I love your theory. There are certain things that are etched in the minds of filmmakers so bad that they refuse to see how unreal they are.<br /><br />For beginners, most modern Indian girls limit saris to special occasions, simply because they do not compare with jeans in comfort. The women who wear sari every day drape it anything but sexy fashion! The rural women simply &quot;drape&quot; it, the teachers and hostess&#39; in service industry wear it in an elegant style, which is very impressive but never hot. It makes me wonder where the filmmakers get their ideas from. <br /><br />Great write up, btw. =)sunshin3girlhttp://sunshin3girl.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.com